Five murdered in Montreal in last two days

The most recent murder in Montreal happened early Saturday around 1 a.m. Police found a 47-year-old man, who they say had a criminal past, shot dead outside his home in the north part of the city. (PASCAL GIRARD/QMI Agency)

MONTREAL -- Five people have been murdered in Montreal in just over 48 hours.

Three men were shot dead and firefighters found two charred bodies in a building that police said was purposely set on fire. At least three of the victims were known to police.

The most recent murder happened early Saturday around 1 a.m. Police found a 47-year-old man, who they say had a criminal past, shot dead outside his home in the north part of the city. Police wouldn't give details about how the victim was known to them and said they do not have any suspects. The victim was the city's 30th murder of the year.

Another man was shot dead about 5 km west of Saturday morning's murder.

Tony Gensale, 43, who had a previous drug arrest, was shot dead on Thursday around 2:30 p.m. Witnesses said they saw the victim arguing with two or more people before one of them pulled a gun and shot Gensale several times in the chest.

A few hours prior, around 1 am, police said they were informed that a man went missing from his home in Saint-Leonard, an Italian neighbourhood in the north part of the city. Police said they found Lawrence Lee's body an hour later in a car, a Lexus SUV, in the city's east end. Lee had a bullet in his head, according to QMI Agency sources. The victim was also known to police.

Finally, around midnight Thursday, firefighters found two charred bodies in a building that police said was purposely set on fire. Both victims were in the 60s. One hundred and twenty-five firefighters were called to the building, which is located in the same east-end neighbourhood where Lee was found shot in the head. QMI Agency has not yet been able to identify the two arson victims.

Montreal police on Saturday morning said they did not know if the five murders were related.